Abstract
Accurate detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is not only necessary for viral load monitoring to optimize treatment in hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 patients, but also critical for deciding whether the patient could be discharged without any risk of viral shedding. Digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) is more sensitive than reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and is usually considered the superior choice. In the current study, we compared the clinical performance of RT-qPCR and ddPCR using oropharyngeal swab samples from patients hospitalized in the temporary Huoshenshan Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Results demonstrated that ddPCR was indeed more sensitive than RT-qPCR. Negative results might be caused by poor sampling technique or recovered patients, as the range of viral load in these patients varied significantly. In addition, both methods were highly correlated in terms of their ability to detect all three target genes as well as the ratio of copies of viral genes to that of the IC gene. Furthermore, our results evidenced that both methods detected the N gene more easily than the ORF gene. Taken together, these findings imply that the use of ddPCR, as an alternative to RT-qPCR, is necessary for the accurate diagnosis of hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; Clinical performance; Quantitative detection; RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; ddPCR.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, RT-qPCR, Clinical performance, Quantitative detection, ddPCR., 【초록키워드】 Treatment, coronavirus disease, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, Hospitalized, viral shedding, Diagnosis, risk, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, China, polymerase chain reaction, RT-qPCR, PCR, Viral load, qPCR, oropharyngeal swab, clinical, Wuhan, Patient, Digital, reverse transcription, recovered patients, N gene, Quantitative, Critical, patients, Target genes, target gene, Chain Reaction, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, alternative, ORF gene, Huoshenshan Hospital, viral genes, negative, polymerase chain, Result, detect, caused, significantly, the patient, addition, ORF, demonstrated, correlated, viral gene, discharged, evidenced, patients hospitalized, 【제목키워드】 digital PCR, specimen, hospitalized patient,